Cue the pillaged school supply isles, the obligatory “first day of …” social media pictures and posts, and the general chaos of that festive time of year — back to school! It is here, and while I am trying to wrap my head around how summer could possibly be over, I am also trying to swallow our own fall family calendar. Time is such a fleeting commodity, and last fall, our regularly scheduled healthy eating menus of the summer were quickly chucked out the window in favor of surviving on whatever we could throw together with the least amount of effort or pick up on the way from point A to point B, which wasn’t always healthy — especially when it came to lunches.
It is true. Grabbing takeout is easy when energy levels are low and, ironically enough, seems to taste extra good when stress begins to mount. In our family, we also get into the meal prep routine rut when time and energy get thin, which in turn means leftover lunches are routine too. Weekly spaghetti, tacos, pizza, a leftover surprise casserole, grill something, repeat, repeat, repeat. You get the idea.
What if we could sidestep the typical take out go-to here and there and avoid the meal prep rut altogether in favor of just a few more healthy choices? Here are a few things I am going to attempt to keep up with as part of my weekend meal prep this busy fall. They may even save me a buck or two.
Pre-portioned snack bag snacks – Yes, you can buy small snack-sized bags of lots of different flavors of chips, but you can also buy healthier alternative snacks and portion them in snack-sized plastic bags. It doesn’t take much time, but it does save a few bucks as compared to small-sized bags of single-serving snacks.
Bento box breakfast burritos – Use four-compartment, ½-cup bento boxes that are microwave safe and dishwasher safe.
Compartment 1 - 1 egg with 1 T. milk and 1 T. cheese of choice; mix lightly with fork.
Compartment 2 - Chopped precooked protein and 1 T. onions (whatever kind you like).
Compartment 3 – Add-ins of any kind (corn, beans, potatoes, jalapenos, diced tomatoes, peppers, spinach, etc.).
Compartment 4 – A folded tortilla (whole grain, low carb, keto friendly, gluten free — so many options
Once you have premade these with several different flavor combinations, attach the lids, and freeze them on cookie sheet pans until hard. When ready to eat, remove from the freezer the night before, and place in the fridge. The next morning, take out the tortilla, and set aside. Heat the bento in the microwave with lid on but not locked tight for approximately 1.5-2 minutes. When ready to eat, dump the contents into the tortilla, and enjoy!
Salad stacks – Salads are sometimes annoying because if you assemble them too early, they get mushy … yuck. If you are diligent enough to put all the different salad pieces in smaller containers, then you have a lot of little pieces to clean up, and invariably I sometimes forget the salad dressing. If you share any of those salad sentiments, behold the salad stack. You will need wide mouth mason jars or 32-oz. deli containers. There is a thought to how to assemble these and, if done right, can last for a few days in the fridge. In the container, first start with the dressing on the bottom. Add the onions next and/or any other hearty veggies, followed by a starch like quinoa, rice or legumes like black beans or chickpeas. Finally, add your lettuce mix of choice and lastly any cheese. This will ensure your lettuce stays fresh on top. When you are ready to eat, shake it up and enjoy!
Finally, sending you best wishes for a safe and healthy fall that includes some healthy inspired lunch tricks to keep you powered up every day. If you want to channel your inner chef or just need a push to learn a few new recipes, take a look at ͷapp’s Community Education classes to learn how to make new, hearty whole grains to add to those salad stacks with Chef Jan, your own cheeses for those breakfast burritos with Chef Ty and/or a new soup recipe from Chef “Mama” Kim to enjoy with your pre-portioned snack.
ͷapp
Lincoln Land Community College offers credit programs in Culinary Arts, Hospitality Management and Baking/Pastry, and non-credit cooking and food classes through ͷapp Community Education.
Cooking or food questions? Email epicuriosity101@llcc.edu.